Our 5-Year Anniversary

Ryan and my 5-year wedding anniversary was this past Sunday (December 28th). It's hard to believe it's been 5 years already! Time definitely does fly by while you are having fun! :o) We were trying to figure out something to do that involved as little cash as possible but something really enjoyable and memorable. Ryan and I were watching one of our favorite weekly TV shows E!'s The Soup (like we do most Friday nights) the day after Thanksgiving.

Here's a clip about one of Kiley's favorite TV shows, Yo Gabba Gabba!:


The Soup's host, Joel McHale, was naming off upcoming cities where he's performing at the end of the show. When Joel said December 27th at the Grand Sierra Resort & Casino in Reno a little light went off in Ryan's head. He suggested we see Joel, and spend the weekend in Reno. He didn't have to twist my arm because within minutes I had already bought the tickets online. As Christmas crept closer, the more excited I got. It was for the fact that Ryan and I were going to get a much needed weekend away, and because I have a tiny crush on Joel McHale. :oP So, December 26th rolls around (Woo hoo!), and we pack up the car to head over to my parents' house to drop off Kiley. We decided to take the scenic route to get to Reno through Lake Tahoe. It was beautiful, but a big mistake. There was so much traffic headed to Tahoe! Plus, there was lots of snow and ice on Highway 50 still. We took it slow and easy, unlike some people out there. I reminded Ryan they are job security. We did see a couple of places were people had spun out on the icy roads. Luckily, almost 5 hours after leaving my parents' house, we arrived in Reno, safe and sound. We were surprised to see how many people there were checking in, especially the day after Christmas. We settled into our room, and soon headed to the buffet. You've gotta eat at the buffet at least once, right?! We gambled for a little bit, but after losing most, okay, all of his money, Ryan was ready to call it a night. The next morning, we slept in, and slowly got around. We didn't have anywhere we needed to be until later that night. We headed over to the Grand Sierra Resort to check out where we needed to go, and to bowl a couple games at their bowling center. We still had several hours to kill, so we decided to go geocaching. Ryan detests the sport, but since I was in a different state, I had to find at least one. Sure enough, I did. :o) The show was incredible! Joel had us practically rolling in the aisles! I know a few times I had to wipe away tears, I was laughing so hard. Our seats were fantasic, too! We were in the sixth row from the stage, center stage left. As evidence from the pictures, Ryan and I actually got to meet Joel after the show. We waited in line for nearly two hours, but it was totally worth it! I bought a T-shirt that makes fun of Tyra Banks being afraid of dolphins, and Joel signed the back, making fun of Ryan Seacrest's height. Classic Soup material! Joel was really down-to-earth, and I'm so glad we were able to see him perform and meet him afterwards. This will be an anniversary we soon won't forget!

Christmas

We had a very nice Christmas this year. It was great to see how easily excited Kiley got over her Christmas presents. Santa made an early delivery to our house since Ryan had to work Christmas Day. Santa stopped by our house while we were at Grandma and Grandpa's (my parents) house for Christmas Eve. The look on Kiley's face when we walked into the house was priceless! She loved all of her "ho-ho" presents. Ryan and Kiley had a visit with Santa himself near the Christmas Village store in downtown Auburn the weekend before Christmas. I had planned to take her to see him earlier, but everytime we got near Santa at the mall, Kiley would cling to me and wouldn't let go. She was even afraid of the inflatable Santa in the front yard! So, I decided that this was the year we wouldn't visit Santa to have her picture taken. Unfortunately, I wasn't with Ryan and Kiley to see this whole scene unfold. According to Ryan, Kiley chatted Santa up, like they'd been friends forever! I wish I could have been there to see it! Hopefully, she won't be scared of Santa next year. On Christmas Day, Kiley and I played with all of the new toys she got until it was time to have dinner with Ryan in Rocklin. A local catering company generously donated an entire prime rib dinner to the firefighters on-shift Christmas Day and their families. We barely made a dent into the meal when everyone was finished! It sure was good, though! To top off our Christmas evening, Kiley and I enjoyed looking at all the pretty Christmas lights on our way home. I loved hearing her "ooohs" and ahhs" from the back seat. :o)

Merry Christmas Everyone!

I hope everyone made it on Santa's Nice List this year!

Frosty gets Caught!

I know this comic strip may seem familiar to some of you since it's from last year, but I couldn't resist posting it again. It's too funny! Click on the picture to enlarge it, so you can read it better! :o)

Snow Day Slideshow

Our Snow Day

We woke up to snow falling the other morning, and Ryan was as giddy as a schoolgirl! It actually stuck for a little bit, but it didn't last for long. So, we decided to make a short trip up the road for a snow day in Emigrant Gap. Kiley didn't like it in the beginning, but by the time we left, she loved going down the snow bank on the snow tube, and she was an expert snowball thrower. Enjoy the slideshow!

Kiley took a tumble tonight!

Kiley and I were watching TV earlier tonight like we normally do when Ryan is working. I was sitting on the couch, and Kiley was sitting on the floor in front of the couch playing. I look down, and the next thing I see is Kiley falling face first into the coffee table! On closer inspection, I see that she is bleeding from biting her lip. After I've calmed her down from the point of hysteria, I try to put some ice on her quickly forming fat lip. She let me do it once or twice, but that was about it. Poor thing! So, this is the aftermath of her little stumble. After a few minutes of extra snuggle time, she was as good as new! :o)

It's the time of year, where we drag all of the Christmas decorations from underneath the house to make the yard and our despositions a little more festive. Of course, I'm a little more eager than Ryan to get started this year. The Christmas season has definitely snuck up on us. Although, I did start seeing fake trees and lawn decorations in stores at the end of September! Our new house's roof isn't at a 90º angle like the one in Roseville, so Ryan is more willing to climb onto the roof to hang lights. We set up the usual decorations we use every year, and some new ones! After dark, we took Kiley on a walk up the street to look at the lights already up on Black Friday. Every word out of her mouth seemed to be, "Whoa! 'Ook Mommy!"It's going to be a real treat this year to go around looking at Christmas lights with Kiley! Now that the front yard was all decorated, it was time to think about doing the inside. We needed our tree first! So, this last four-day, we decided to get our Christmas tree. It was a perfect late fall/early winter day to go looking in the chilly afternoon air. We headed out to a local Christmas tree farm in Foresthill. Snowy Peaks is a real-deal Choose and Cut tree farm. It's not like other farms we've been to in the past, where you choose but they cut it for you. Snowy Peaks hands you a saw, and says, "Good luck!" Ryan was so disappointed when he found out we couldn't go out into the woods to cut down our tree because the National Forest Service near us doesn't issue Christmas tree permits. He really wanted it to be like the Griswold's Family Christmas. :o) Snowy Peaks had so many great trees, we had a hard time deciding. We finally found "The Tree" after about 30 minutes of looking and hiking. Kiley tripped a couple times over old stumps and rocks, but was a big girl and got right back up to keep on trekkin'! It was a great family outing! Kiley truly enjoyed her first ever candy cane! She was a sticky mess afterwards, but totally worth it. Now, whenever I ask her if she likes candy canes, her answer is, "Mmmmm!" Later that night, after dinner, we all helped decorate the rest of the house and tree. Kiley was fascinated with all of the ornaments, especially her "Baby's First Christmas." She liked looking at the picture of the smiling baby. It's hard to believe just two short years ago, I took that exact picture of Kiley looking up at the Christmas tree and capturing one of her first smiles. Aww, memories!Unfortunately, Ryan works on Christmas Day this year (and, next year, too!), so we will be celebrating a day early or a day late. Luckily, for now, Kiley isn't old enough to know any different!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours!

Kiley is too funny!

The weather has been kinda crummy here lately, so Kiley and I have been a couple of homebodies. So, yesterday afternoon while working on the computer, I looked up to see a few of Kiley's stuffed animals enjoying a view outside. It was too funny to see them all lined up perfectly on the windowsill. Then, earlier today, Kiley asked to have her sunglasses on in the house. A few minutes later, she ran into the office with one of my winter hats on. She looked so cute, so of course I had to take her picture. What a ham!

Kiley made Santa's Nice List!

Santa already has his naughty and nice lists made up! And to our surprise, Kiley made the nice list! Click on the link to check out the nice list for yourself! Click here for Santa's Nice List!!!

Kiley has the flu!

Poor baby! She hasn't been feeling well since Sunday morning when Ryan awoke to an unpleasant surprise. We thought maybe she had had too many Fig Newtons on Saturday. I took her into the Doctor today because Ryan and I were concerned that she was still having diarrhea after 5 days. Plus, when I went to tuck her into bed last night I noticed that all of her stuffed animals she sleeps with smelled of vomit. YUCK! They needed a bath anyways. To top it all off, she woke up with a cough and green, runny nose Thursday morning. The Doctor couldn't give her anything, but said it needs to run its course. So, this weekend send Kiley some get better thoughts!

Happy Veterans Day!

Don't forget to thank a veteran today!

Nimbus Fish Hatchery

Well, it's that time of year again. Time for the Brayton's annual Nimbus Fish Hatchery visit around the Veterans Day holiday. The salmon are making their way up the fish ladder off the American River once again. We scrounged all our nickels together for fish food, and headed out on this beautiful November day.

Kiley is at such a cute age, where anything and everything is exciting. She loved seeing the salmon jump out of the water, trying to head up-stream. She pulled Ryan's hand along to keep up with the jumping fish, letting out a "whoa!" whenever one was successful. She also had fun feeding the smaller trout.
On the way home, we stopped at a nearby park in Fair Oaks, where both Kiley and Ryan had a great time playing on the playground equipment. Kiley is becoming quite the slide expert. She has no fear! It was so hard to tear her away when it was time to go. Everything is no nowadays! She must have gotten in enough play time, though. She passed out half way home! Ahh, to be two again!

Thought I'd give it a try, too!

So, I've finally broke down, and hopped on the blog bandwagon. It makes a lot of sense to do now that I've been thinking about it. It's a perfect way to let all of our family and friends get a small glimpse into The Brayton's everyday lives. Especially those of you we can't see on a regular basis. I seem to take my camera with us wherever we go, so what better way to document our outings and/or special events than with a blog. I hope everyone enjoys!